The managing editors and entire editorial board of Mathematical Logic Quarterly, a Wiley title, have resigned, citing “unilateral decisions” by the publisher “that affected the editorial process.”
“We do not believe that Wiley is currently providing an environment that allows the editors to do their editorial work according to the standards of the academic community and free from the negative influence of commercial and profit-oriented interests,” the editors wrote in their resignation letter.
The editors have launched a new journal with a “diamond” open-access model, not charging fees to read or publish papers.
“We are always proud to partner with the academic community to deliver high-quality scholarship that moves the world forward,” a Wiley spokesperson said in a statement. “We regretfully accept these resignations and wish the former editors success in their new endeavor.”
The journal is the latest of many additions to our Mass Resignations List, which documents walkouts and resignations at nearly two dozen journals since 2023, often citing tensions between academic editors and for-profit publishers.
The resignations include all 20 members of the editorial board, as well as managing editor Deirdre Haskell, who is listed as the managing editor of the newly announced journal. The other two managing editors, Manuel Bodirsky and Klaus Meer, are still under contract but will resign as soon as their contract allows, the letter stated.
The German-language mathematical society Deutsche Vereinigung für Mathematische Logik und für Grundlagenforschung der exakten Wissenschaften (DVMLG) has had a publishing agreement with Wiley for the journal since 2010. The society has also informed the publisher it will not renew the agreement ending this year.
Wiley acquired the journal in 1999, and the society has nominated the journal’s editors since 2011.
“The editors and managing editors of MLQ reported that the attitudes and procedures of Wiley have changed considerably in the last few years and that commercial and profit-oriented interests are now influencing the editorial process negatively,” the letter stated.
The letters of the DVMLG and resigning editors share language on how they believe scientific publishing should work, such as making research results free to read and publish.
Both groups state they believe the editorial process should be controlled by “an editorial team consisting of members of the academic research community that are entirely free from pressure or influence of commercial and profit-oriented interests.” Publishers, they write, should “provide the editorial team with an environment that efficiently assists them in their task and conforms to the specifications of the academic research community.”
“There is a tension between the interests of commercial and profit-oriented publishers and the main purposes of academic publishing,” both letters stated. “A cooperation of the academic community with a commercial, profit-oriented publisher is only fruitful if the publisher respects the expectations and demands of the academic community.”
The name of the new journal, ZML: Zeitschrift für Mathematische Logik und Grundlagen der Mathematik, hearkens back to the original name of Mathematical Logic Quarterly at its founding in 1955, according to information provided by Benedikt Löwe, a former managing editor who will serve as coordinating editor of the new title.
Cambridge University Library will provide indexing, digital hosting and preservation, and assign an ISSN and DOIs to ZML’s papers, according to the letter announcing the journal’s launch. Some members of the editorial board are financing the journal’s management, typesetting and submission system.
“We, the editors of ZML, support true open access removing all barriers to access,” according to the letter. The journal will publish papers and make them available to read for free. The editors write they “believe that the scientific content of research journals must be under the sole control of the academic community and should be free from any commercial or profit-oriented influence.”
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